With her "trademark studied perfectionist qualities" (Opera News), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was one of the foremost sopranos singing lieder in the postwar era. An opera legend, she approached lieder with the same sensitivity and care she brought to her Mozart and Strauss heroines. Recorded with three exceptional pianists, a trio of 1950s LPs are combined here in one glorious set.

"She combined … a distinctive creaminess of tone and line and a rare musical intelligence that made her an especially persuasive exponent of the Mozart and Richard Strauss soprano roles and of German lieder."—Chicago Tribune

"Her voice had a brightness of tone which gave it an individual character…. This collection reveals her quality and range."—Musical Opinion

"Nobody knew Hugo Wolf's very special tonal language better than Gerald Moore. At the same time Schwarzkopf might have one or two competitors in Mozart and Schubert but none in Wolf. And these two great artists in collaboration make us, at least temporarily, realize that Hugo Wolf should be mentioned in the same breath as Schubert as the greatest German-language song composer. Pick any song in this programme: the three Mignon Lieder, so different and still so unified; the fourth Mignon Kennst du das Land, possibly the greatest of them all, the fastidious Ganymed and Anakreons Grab … all of them with that duo feeling, the piano part independent and still inseparable."—MusicWeb International